Will China Rule the World? China and Global Society in Imperial and Modern Times

Depending whom you ask, PRC is either going to rule the world or it is on the verge of falling apart. I myself would merely observe that despite its presumed international clout, China’s actual contribution to the “discourse” of and practice of modernity is meager to non-existent. Compare, for example, Britain’s impact on the world at the height of its empire. In the eighteenth century, a seemingly successful regime in Beijing had a small following among “enlightened despots.” Today’s PRC also has a small following among despots, but not ones as enlightened as even Frederick the Great.